Cutbacks mean husbands, wives and partners will not be invited as they have been in previous years

A seagull floats past the top of Liverpool's Town Hall on Castle Street

Town Hall cutbacks mean some of Liverpool’s most distinguished citizens will be excluded from this year’s ceremony to install the new Lord Mayor.

A special function is being held on June 11 to mark the end of Gary Millar’s year in office and hand the mayoral chains over to Erica Kemp.

Normally the great and the good of Liverpool are invited to the ceremony, which is followed by a Town Hall banquet.

But this year councillors have been told they cannot bring their husbands, wives and partners as they have done in previous years, the ECHO understands.

Those who have the freedom of the city – including the Beatles
, comedian Ken Dodd
, politician Michael Heseltine, poet Roger McGough and businessman Sir Terry Leahy – have also not been invited for the first time in years.

One freeman described the decision as “incomprehensible” and “regrettable”.

Liverpool lawyer Rex Makin, an ECHO columnist who was given the freedom of the city 11 years ago, said: “Every year since I became a freeman I have been invited to the mayor-making ceremony and the dinner that follows it.

“How much does it cost to provide a dinner? I think it is regrettable that freemen and the husbands, wives and partners of councillors are being treated in this way.

“This decision is bringing economy to a new incomprehensible position.”

A Liverpool council spokesman defended the move, saying savings needed to be made in all areas of spending, including official ceremonies.

The spokesman said: “As the council is facing severe financial pressures we have reviewed all expenditure and civic receptions are no exception.

“As a result we have had to reduce the numbers invited to attend.

“This not only affects freemen of the city but also others who would have previously been invited to receptions.

“The council holds freemen of the city in the highest regard but regrettably we had little alternative in order to make the required savings.”

Earlier this year the council approved budget cuts worth £156m following huge reductions in funding from central government.

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Alastair Machray was appointed editor of The Liverpool Echo in 2005 and is also editor-in-chief of Trinity Mirror Merseyside, Cheshire and North Wales. He is a former editor of The Daily Post (Wales and England) and editor-in-chief of the company's Welsh operations. Married dad-of-two and keen golfer Alastair is one of the longest-serving newspaper editors in the country. His titles have won numerous awards and spearheaded numerous successful campaigns.